Estate planning

The importance of creating a comprehensive estate plan cannot be understated. A typical estate plan includes documents such as a will, a power of attorney, and an appointment of enduring guardian.  In some cases people may also wish to prepare an advance care directive.

If you have business assets, a well prepared estate plan will also consider how those business assets will be treated upon death. For example, if you have a company or a discretionary trust, those entities will usually survive your death, and so the question needs to be considered – who will gain control of those assets?

Probate, letters of administration, and estate administration

The death of a loved one is often difficult for everyone. This can be exacerbated by having to navigate the legal complexities of managing a deceased estate and making distributions to beneficiaries.

If upon the death of a person there is no will, in most cases a grant of letters of administration will need to be obtained from the Supreme Court of NSW before anything can be distributed from the estate.

If there is a will, then an application will usually need to be made to the Supreme Court for a grant of probate.

Only once a grant of probate or a grant of letters of administration has been made by a court, can the estate be distributed by an executor of an estate. This process of distributing the estate assets and following the directions set out in the will is known as estate administration.

Your experts in wills, estate planning, probate, and estate administration – why choose us?

  • We are an award-winning law firm with offices in Balmain, Northbridge, Hornsby, and Tea Gardens in New South Wales.

  • Our firm’s history dates back to 1924, meaning that we have prepared and administered thousands of wills and estate plans. There isn’t much that we haven’t seen or done before.

  • We have a team of specialist wills and estates lawyers who have experience in everything from preparing estate plans, obtaining grants of probate or letters of administration, administering estates and distributing assets, and challenging or defending wills. Because of this, our lawyers are uniquely positioned to understand the full cycle of deceased estates, and can provide you with real practical guidance that is tailored to your individual circumstances.

  • Our specialist lawyers can prepare simple wills, powers of attorney, and appointments of enduring guardian, but also have deep expertise in complex estate planning including the preparation of testamentary trusts, superannuation proceeds trusts, and special disability trusts.

  • We regularly advise on the complexities associated with blended families and the complexities of having children from multiple relationships.

  • Our estate planning team is backed by our property and commercial law teams, and so we are uniquely positioned to provide advice on the division of property and business assets in the context of an estate plan.

Key services for the squares

> Estate planning – We can help you to prepare a will, power of attorney, and appointment of enduring guardian so that you have certainty on what happens if you pass away or are incapacitated but still alive.

> Letters of administration – We can help to obtain letters of administration in circumstances where the deceased did not leave a will.

> Probate – We can help you to apply for a grant of probate from the Supreme Court of NSW so that you can distribute the estate in accordance with the will.

> Family provision claims – Our lawyers have decades of experience both challenging wills and defending estates against claims made against estates.

> Business succession planning – Many of our clients are business owners and have complex setups such as corporations, trusts, and self managed superannuation funds. We are experts at cutting through the complexity and preparing comprehensive estate plans.

> Testamentary discretionary trusts – We can help to prepare complex wills and estate plans that are tax effective and which may provide asset protection benefits.

Contact Thornton + King Lawyers

Do you have a question about our services? Contact us today, and a member of our team will get back to you soon.

What our customers say

Andy was fantastic with our families recent property purchases. We had a longer wait to settle but Andy kept us updated on the status and next steps. As with property purchases the stress levels are high but Andy was calm and reassuring and made the process as seamless as possible. Would recommend Andy and Alan for your next property purchase.

Kylie Bone

a week ago

Highly recommended. The team at Thornton + King was very responsive, very knowledgeable and professional. We felt extremely supported and at ease throughout the sale of our IP. Definitely engaging with the firm again for our next property acquisition/sale.

Jerry L

3 months ago

My wife & I have engaged Vanessa Caputo for conveyancing numerous times over the last 10 years. Our experience has been consistently good. Vanessa is able to tap into her considerable experience to provide salient advice & guidance throughout the whole process, be it a property purchase or a sale. We've also received great service from Vanessa's support team, particularly Andy Ha...

Neil O'Malley

4 months ago

Awesome work by Andy. Kept me in the loop at all times and ensured that a smooth settlement went through for my clients. Highly recommend!

Melvin Bautista

2 months ago

Highly recommended. We were very nervous about our purchase via our Super Fund and these guys are all over it. Kept us calm, knew exactly what to do and were super efficient, even though it was over the Christmas/New Year period, they were there! Thank you so much Vanessa, Alan and Amber who looked after us.

Chriss Costi

9 months ago

I have used Thornton + King's service for the purchase of our first home. All throughout the process, they have been very professional and honest with their feedback. They ensured that we understand the impacts of clauses in the contract and possible risks associated with them. We have been able to take informed decisions for every single time and at the end had a very smooth set...

Narayanan Unni

a year ago

Thornton and King were engaged by my wife and I to handle the sale of our apartment. This was our first engagement with them as our previous solicitor had retired and they came highly recommended. I must say I found the experience smooth and faultless. The communication was concise and clear. All aspects were handled with professionalism and at all times we felt our sale was thei...

Neil Ashley

a year ago

The solicitors and support team were so amazing I have never experienced a well connected team that delivers seamlessly. I have purchased many properties over the past 20 years and never had an experience like this.I highly recommend this amazing team 10/10 from me.Thank you so much for the drive and dedication.

Jane

a year ago